Westminster, Anna Nicole, and N. Korea

Westminster, Anna Nicole, and N. Korea, what do these things have in common? They all prove the world has gone to the dogs. Ha Ha, I slay me. Anyhow, I am flipping through the channels last night and come across the dog show thing. Now normally it wouldn't bother me but last night was different. See, I am an HDTV junkie and there simply are not enough channels available in high-def to be taking one up with the dog show. The other problem is that in order for me to be a viewer of your program, all you have to do is broadcast it in high-def. As I have explained to friends in the past, I have watched stuff in high-def that I would never watch, simply because it is in high-def. This is a double edged sword of course. Sometimes, I come across great shows on Discovery or PBS that are entertaining or educational as well as stunning in their presentation. I have seen some great stuff on the history of arctic expedition on PBS and a fascinating look at the job of bee keeper and removing huge nests of killer bees from populated areas to unpopulated areas, where the bees can do what nature intends for them, on the Discovery channel. I have also watched things that I have no interest in, simply because the picture in high def is so far superior to anything on regular TV, that I simply can't watch regular TV anymore.

So last night it was the dog show, and I mean THE dog show. This is apparently the Super Bowl of dog shows. Having said that, this might be the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen. There is a lot of pageantry, which I can appreciate. People and dogs dressed to the nines and huge crowds of people in the stands. So during the setup, this all looks fine, very British, but fine. Then the whole thing breaks bad. See in order to "show" these dogs, there seems to be a requirement that a well dressed, middle aged woman, who is slightly overweight, wearing high heels runs around the arena with the dog. Now the dog, is just out for a walk, something it does with regularity and seems to be well adept to handle. The same could not be said for the people. The entire time the dog is "shown", you are waiting for the woman to trip and fall, get tangled and fall, break a heal and fall, or simple die and fall. It might actually be some of the best drama on TV if it wasn't so cruel.

The other thing that strikes me is that there are classes or divisions in which the dogs are cast and judged. For instance, when I was watching there was the working dog class. I took this to mean that these dogs had been bred to work on farms or other situations that could benefit from a herding, shepherding, or rescuing dog. But, like most things made for TV, not a one of the dogs shown had every really done a days work in its life. These dogs were bred to be show dogs, not working dogs. All I could think about was the real working dogs sitting around watching this show thinking that the rich get richer while they continue to toil away for a dog's wage. It is funny to watch the world of man and beast intersect, but maybe no place is it more ridiculous than at Westminster. On the bright side, it was a nice distraction from Anna Nicole and politics. Because for all of the dog shows silliness, at least it is still just a dog show, the other stuff is actually supposed to matter.

Enjoy your day!
-mike

"In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable."
-Dwight D. Eisenhower